Domestic Updates

None of these are worth their own post, but I figure they are if they're all put together.

Just got my Melaleuca order. Their tub & tile cleaner made my bathroom beautiful. And there are no abrasive chemicals as it is biodegradable. If anyone local wants a catalogue I have one. Or you can visit www.melaleuca.com If you decide to join, make sure you join under me so I get credit.

We finally had a plumber out to snake out our septic line and kitchen sink. I totally recommend Walter W. King plumbing 301 473 4330. Their price was more than fair, about $100 less than I expected. So for the first time in 3 months, I washed dishes in my kitchen sink. That is, after polishing it per Fly Lady's laws. (www.flylady.org)

I also have Bed Bath & Beyond coupons if anyone wants them. Don't ever shop there without a bunch of coupons! They are usually 20% off coupons, and you can use one per item with no limit to how many you use. You can even bring back coupons with a receipt that says you paid full price, and they'll issue store credit. Also, the store dosen't care if the coupons are expired.

I'm about to freecycle a bag of baby/toddler toys. It contains plastic links, some small stuffed animals, a few happy meal toys, a mat for imagination play, etc... Let me know quickly if you want to come over and pick them up. Freecycle.org puts you in touch with a local Yahoo group where you can post offer and wanted ads for free stuff you don't use any more.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

A spaghetti squash strings up like spaghetti when it's cooked. So instead of spaghetti noodles in my meat sauce, I put spaghetti squash in it. Totally eliminates the carbs.

The only complaints I have heard about this recipe is that people expect it to have the same texture as regular spaghetti, and keep comparing it to the more familiar dish. It's not going to be even a close replacement for noodles. If you can get past that, and view it more as some kind of thick stew, you'll love it.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375
Puncture squash all over with a knife. Put in baking dish
Bake about an hour

Cook 1 lb ground beef in a medium-large pot
Add one onion, finely chopped and saute'
Season to taste
Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
Heat up

Take squash from oven, and cool until you can handle.
Slice squash in half, spoon out seeds and center pulp, discard.
Take a fork and run it longways thru the rest of the squash. It should shread up like spaghetti.
Add to the meat sauce and stir in well.

Pot Roast

It was cold and rainy today. I thought it was a perfect day to make pot roast. Even though I would have made pot roast no matter what the weather was.

I always use my crock pot. I throw in potatoes on the bottom, then the veggies, then the meat. Usually, I use carrots and celery, but I had other stuff in my fridge.

Here's what I did:

Brown 1 lb beef cut into quarters. Salt, pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.
Fry sliced potatoes (2 potatoes) Throw in crock pot
Fry eggplant slices. Throw in crock pot
Fry one onion, sliced. Throw in crock pot.
Put meat on top. Close the lid. Cook on high 4-5 hours.

Make sure you season every thing you add to taste.

Also, with a crock pot, try not to open the lid and peek. Each time you open it adds 15 more minutes of cook time. Plus, opening the lid helps the juices and flavor escape. You wouldn't want that.

If you don't like how your pot roast turned out, you can save it. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to each serving and mix it up. That will fix anything. Or ketchup, but that's a little too obvious.

Totally Not On Purpose

Look what my eggs did this morning.

It was cute until I scrambled his face and fed him to my family.

New Interest in Wine

After I watched that John Cleese documentary I posted about earlier, I have found a new interest of tasting wine.
I found a website that you can post reviews on wine you have tried. It's www.snooth.com
Look up Joknowswhy for my reviews. Let me know if you joined yourself.

Wine Review: Vampire Merlot 2005

I found this wine for about $12 today. I was excited because all the grapes come from a relatively small area. Namely, Vampire Vineyards off the coast of SW California.

This is a strong wine with no bitter taste. It was very rich and smooth. I had it with my Moussaka and Stuffed grape leaves and it combined very well.

Stuffed Grape Leaves

I have no idea how to rotate this picture on blogger.

Meat mixture (from previous recipe)
Jar of grape leaves
cooked rice
salt & pepper
garlic powder
balsamic vinegar
nutmeg

Mix meat mixture in with rice. Add seasonings to taste.

Lay out a whole grape leaf. Fill the center with rice mix.
Wrap like you're swaddling an infant. First the bottom, then each side. Fold whole thing in half long-ways and tuck the top under to face the plate.
Repeat until you run out of rice or leaves.

Potato Moussaka

Moussaka is the dish in the back.

If you can score yourself a pound of ground lamb, and an eggplant, you're likely to have all the other ingredients in the kitchen already.

I always order Moussaka at the Greek restaurant. Mine tasted a little more American, because I used potatoes instead of bread crumbs to line the bottom of the pan.

1 small eggplant
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder, or one clove of fresh
1/2 cup red wine
1 small can tomato paste
1 large potato (or 3 slices of bread, crumbled)
1/4 cup white cheese (I used Chihuahua cheese, even though it's Mexican)
White Sauce (recipe follows)
Parmesian cheese

Brown mean in oil
add onion, green pepper, salt & pepper
Add wine, tomato paste 1/2 of cheese

Cut eggplant in 1/4 inch slices, quarter slices, brown in oil
Bread crumbs on bottom of 9 inch pan (or thinly sliced potatoes)
Eggplant goes next, then put the meat mixture on top.

White Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup milk
salt, pepper & nutmeg
remaining cheese
2 beaten eggs

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add each ingrediant, one by one after the previous ingredient is mixed well.
Stir until thick.
Pour half of the sauce over your eggplant and potatoes. Then add the meat. Pour the rest of the sauce on top.